Coward

by H.T. Phair

Major Rory of the Ronan Officer Lineage, Active Duty Division, was raised to be a soldier, but she falls in love instead. Her dreams for a family and home of her own are shattered to an endless nightmare when her husband and young son are killed before her eyes. The military orders her to a suicide mission but the heartbroken soldier has seen enough of death. To save her squad, she disobeys orders and seals her own fate in the process. Beaten, broken and branded, she is sentenced not to the death she hoped for, but to a lifetime in a distant planet's underground penal colony doing hard labor. A lifelong homophobe, Rory is horrified when she learns she must sleep with a young woman, Rabbit, in order to survive the frigid nights. Rabbit's sweet innocence confuses Rory's long-held beliefs. When a sliver of a chance is offered to reclaim her freedom, Rory will use any means to achieve it, including allowing herself to fall in love again. But this time, she's falling in love with a woman named Rabbit.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mr P Kelsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story, but...

This is a really good story and a very interesting take on a dystopian future. I would definitely recommend it however the lack of chapter breaks can make it a little difficult at times, it could also use a good editing session to sort the typos etc.

I will say that there is a fair amount of trigger stuff in this book but I feel it works within the plot so it's justified.

[Cate Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creepy and tortuous

I found the torture and brutality to be overdone. The "military bad, prison awful" message, as conveyed by repeated scenes of whippings, torture, and rape, was hammered so repeatedly as to become gratuitous.

I also was completely creeped out by the love story at the story's center. That Rabbit was a horribly abused, mentally disadvantaged young woman, in my mind, made her incapable of giving consent (in the same way that minors and prisoners cannot either). It made her relationship with Rory feel exploitative.

That said, the concept was interesting enough that I finished the book to see how the author would conclude it. The conclusion left many open questions, but pulled the story's threads together enough to make the ending mostly satisfying.

[Jo Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unusual love story !

Loved this book but it’s quite unusual set in the future on a war torn earth. A female soldier gets wrongly convicted of cowardice and gets sentenced to life on a penal colony on another planet.Hot days and extremely cold nights and not much food.There are however,permanent residents who’s are children from previous convicts who do the menial jobs including bed warming as nights are extremely cold .A bond forms between Rabbit and the former soldier and a wonderful complex relationship forms between the two.